Disc springs, sometimes referred to as Belleville washers or Belleville springs, are conical shaped washers which are designed to be loaded in an axial direction. Under high loads disc springs produce small deflections, as compared with other types of springs such as helical or coil springs.
Variable spring characteristics can be achieved by stacking a plurality of disc springs. A problem with stacking a plurality of disc springs, particularly, when stacking in parallel, is the need to maintain the plurality of disc springs in the stack when a force is applied axially on the stack. Furthermore, when such a force is applied axially to a parallel spring stack, the adjacent surfaces of the disc springs may rub against each other, causing friction wear. This friction wear is often the cause of premature failure of disc spring configurations.
There is a need for improved disc springs and disc spring stacks and configurations.